Nancy uses raffia, bamboo and waxed linen and borrows various fragments of Japanese culture collected on her numerous trips to Japan to create her exquisite small vessels. Not only do the materials inspire Nancy but also the Japanese way of using materials. The memory of the place where each artifact was collected influences the piece. Some of the vessels are not intended to be opened yet contain within such treasures as Japanese divining papers, an amulet, a Jizo figure (Japanese symbol of lost children). Other pieces may create a scene inside a small box covered with woven strips of pages from an old book.

Selected Permanent Collections:

Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
Racine Museum of Art, Racine, WI
Erie Museum of Art, Erie, PA
Szombathely Art Museum, Hungary

Books by Nancy Moore Bess:

Bamboo in Japan, Kodansha International,
Tokyo, 2001

please contact us for other available works
thirteenmoonsgallery@earthlink.net

Pebble Jar From Japan
6" x 6" x 6"
$2500